In this issue: 

• Report back: Panel of Indigenous Activists Discuss Impacts of REDD 
• Bioneers 2012: Rights of Nature and Indigenous Communities
• Culver City and San Luis Obispo, CA Move Forward to BAN Fracking

Indigenous Peoples Confront False Climate Solutions

REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) is a controversial carbon trading scheme that California is about to implement as a way to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions – enabling California corporations to continue to pollute at home, at the expense of the livelihoods and land among forest communities in Mexico, Brazil and elsewhere. 

On October 16th, a panel of Indigenous activists from Chiapas, Mexico, Pastaza province, Ecuador and Acre, Brazil, convened for a panel discussion on the affects of REDD on their communities and ways of life.

I had the opportunity to attend the panel discussion and screening of the film The Darker Shade of Green, which is part of a weeklong tour through the state organized by the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN). Global Exchange is working to bring Rights of Nature into the discussions around REDD. For more, read my blog. 

Bioneers 2012: Indigenous Activists Gather to Explore Our Responsibilities to Nature

Community Rights Program Director, Shannon Biggs, met with Indigenous activists at the Bioneers Conference to explore Rights of Nature and partnerships with tribes to recognize our responsibility to mother earth and to protect their native lands. 

Alberto Saldamando and Tom Goldtooth (IEN), Dr. Daniel Wildcat (Haskell Indian Nations University), Chief Orin Lyons, and other members of the Global Alliance for Rights of Nature gathered to discuss Rights of Nature in the context of issues facing Indigenous Communities today such as REDD, land grabs, water rights, and more. 

In Culver City and San Luis Obipso, fracking is a question of rights!

In early October, the first fracking-specific Democracy School was held in San Luis Obispo, CA. It was one of the most well attended schools California has seen as residents from San Luis Obispo County and Culver City met to explore the history of corporate power, the limits of environmental regulatory law, and how a campaign to pass a right-based ordinance can enable them to BAN fracking in their communities. 

Global Exchange is working with Culver City and San Luis Obispo on next steps to move forward in passing local laws that will assert their right to say ‘NO’ to fracking. 

Is fracking happening where you live? 

• Visit our webpage to learn more about fracking and how you can ban it in YOUR community!

For Community Rights,

Kylie Nealis
Program Associate
Community Rights